


The Deal

by EllieMarchetti



Series: Romance at Hogwarts [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abusive Lucius Malfoy, Animal Death, Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter Friendship, Draco Malfoy & Pansy Parkinson Friendship, Draco Malfoy & Ron Weasley Friendship, Draco Malfoy Needs a Hug, Draco Malfoy is Bad at Feelings, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy Friendship, Invisibility Cloak (Harry Potter), Lucius Malfoy Being an Asshole, Lucius Malfoy's A+ Parenting, Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Minor Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, POV Draco Malfoy, Time Turner (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 02:37:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21067397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieMarchetti/pseuds/EllieMarchetti
Summary: Slowburn which starts from the first year on Draco and Hermione's relationship, aka what would've happened if he had someone who took the unbearable brat we all know and had taken him on the right way





	1. Halloween

It was only the beginning of October and Hermione already couldn’t accept the idea of not being the best in Potions. She observed Professor Snape complimenting Malfoy and not her so many times that she began to wish to be able to get rid of her opponent in a full-blown duel, but Malfoy was a coward, and Hermione needed to study a more cunning plan to be the best. So she had begun to approach Pansy Parkinson. The girl, after all, wasn’t so bad, even if she lacked a certain cunning that Hermione would’ve expected from a Slytherin. After two weeks, she had the first-year Slytherin lessons plan, the base of the entire plan she had schemed together with Parvati Patil in the middle of a sleepless night. Parvati’s help had been crucial, as she had brought to her hears a gossip spread by Millicent Bulstrode, laying the foundations for that crazy idea: Crabbe or Goyle, based on who had been more useless or annoying during the day, prepared Malfoy’s bag. Hermione was certain that the two idiots would’ve never dared to tell their boss they had lost one of his books and would try to replace it with one of the good copies in the school’s library, which Hermione had promptly made disappear, with Neville’s help, who, after the experience with the three-headed dog, didn’t had the courage to ask any question. Preventing any misunderstanding, Hermione had also used her influence on the sweet, tender Lily Moon, a Slytherin came to that House by mistake, apparently, and asked her to use her knowledge in Charms and to cast a Biting Jinx on the History of Magic’s books of all the other first-year students, with the promise that she would make sure that Pansy and Millicent would stop bullying her all the time. Of course, Hermione had kept her promise, made Lily’s life less a hell, and made a bet with Dean, to check that the girl hadn’t betrayed her. She had offered to do all his Transfiguration’s homework if only he had stolen the History of Magic’s book of a Slytherin of his choice, Lily excluded, since Hermione had forced her to never separate from hers. And Dean had tried, really, but he had been bitten with such force from Theodore Nott’s book that he had been taken to the infirmary and had to skip the next lesson. The complex plan, which had taken several days to prepare, was to steal Malfoy’s History of Magic book on Tuesday, as he followed that lesson before Potions, and hold him in Potions’ classroom on Friday, from which she was certain Snape would leave in a hurry, since he had given detention to the Weasley twins, who she should’ve repaid conspicously for that tacky joke on the Slytherin Headhouse. On Friday the Slytherins, after their lesson with Snape, had an hour of History of Magic with Professor Binns, who was particularly strict about carrying the necessary material, so she was sure that Malfoy would look for his book like a madman and would even listened to her, once he discovered that it was her who had the book. As expected, those who knew of her plan helped her to ensure that, at the end of the lesson, everyone would come out quickly, partly also to enjoy the Halloween celebrations for longer, and the Slytherins didn’t need to be further persuaded to leave Malfoy behind: after the first delay of almost the whole class, Binns, had taken away five points each, and the Slytherin were too competitive to lose the House Cup just to wait for a friend who didn’t treat them even then that good.

“Are you looking for this?” Hermione asked, startling Malfoy, and waving the book under his nose, but not close enough for him to get it.

“What do you want, Mudblood?” Draco asked, glaring at her. Taken alone, the boy wasn’t so brave.

“Your help, obviously.” she answered, enjoying the frown on his face.

“In your dreams.” the boy hissed.

“Then it will mean that I will tell Snape that you have cheated in the first theoretical task of the year.” she replied, with a victorious smile on her face.

“You won’t dare …” he began, but stopped immediately when he saw the determination shine in her hazel eyes.

“What do I gain?” he asked, finally, after a few seconds of silence.

“You won’t be late in class, and you’ll answer correctly to the questions the professor will ask today, making Slytherin overcome Ravenclaw in the House Cup.” Hermione replied, showing Draco the paper with questions and answers she had put on the first page of his book. The boy seemed tempted, and Hermione was more than certain that the whole situation would take place that way: he was too ambitious to throw away the possibility to shine in front of the whole class.

“How can you know what questions Binns will pose?” Draco asked, still on the defensive.

“I had History of Magic two hours ago, and everyone knows that Binns repeats the same lesson for each House and always asks the same questions. Why do you think Hufflepuff never earns points with him?”

Draco looked at her perplexed and Hermione rolled her eyes. “They are the first to have lessons with him, fool, so they cannot ask anyone what the questions will be. You’re the luckiest and you cannot even realize it.” she explained.

“I didn’t make you so cunning, Granger.”

Hermione tried to hold back a smile. He was calling her by last name and no longer Mudblood, it was a step forward.

“Now tell me what you want, before I lose my patience and decide to go tell Snape that you’re blackmailing me.”

Hermione wouldn’t give in to that empty threat: she knew he would never do it, not with the sentence that would have fallen on him if she revealed that he had copied during the theoretical test.

“I want to get the best votes in Potions.”

“And how can I help you? You said it, I cheated in the last test.” Malfoy replied, nonchalantly. It was disgusting how he didn’t repent for his ignoble action.

“Snape has a certain favoritism for you, so your presence will be enough for me.” she answered, aware she had won. “We have an agreement?” she asked, hoping to conclude. Draco answered with a grunt, but that was unmistakably a yes.

“See you after dinner at the Quidditch camp. And don’t think about betraying me, I still can tell him you cheated.” she replied, landing him his book. She came out of the Potions classroom without looking back, while Draco Malfoy watched, annoyed and surprised, that the girl had kept her promise about the History of Magic’s answers.


	2. Quidditch Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Racism is a delicate subject even in the Wizarding World

In the middle of November, it started to get very cold. The mountains around the school were tinged with a glacial gray and the lake became a sheet of cold metal. Just two weeks had passed, but Hermione’s plan was already beginning to bear fruit, and Malfoy had even begun to ward off Crabbe and Goyle, at least in her presence, preferring the company of Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson. She was grateful, but she would never tell him that those two energumens scared her.

Every morning, and Hermione knew it perfectly well , the ground, even that of the inner gardens, which she used to move faster from a class to the next like many other students, was covered with frost. She was in the company of Harry and Ron, with whom she had recently befriended, although there were some things on which they continued to disagree, when she slipped, and didn’t just stumble, perhaps saving herself by clinging badly to someone, but fell with her butt on the ground, her cape sodden and her pride underground. Harry was a true gentleman, though perhaps it was erroneous to call him such as he was only eleven, and lent her his cloak, so that she didn’t have to wear hers, that was all wet and dirty, and perhaps risking a cold too. Little she knew that Draco saw part of the scene and felt something in his stomach that made him act in a strange way. So, in a day in which, from Gryffindor Common Room, people could see Hagrid intent on defrosting the broomsticks in the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long fustian coat, with huge rabbit fur gloves and huge boots lined with beaver, she started to regret her decision. Nothing strange happened on those Friday morning but after lunch Hermione joined her Slytherin friends and came out to see the last Slytherin practice. Despite being only one p.m., it was freezing. Pansy squeezed harder between Draco and Theodore’s bodies, so Hermione decided that there was nothing strange if she too decided to get smart and take advantage of the body heat that Draco had to offer her. That boy, in spite of his pale complexion and pale eyes, had a very high body temperature. Pansy even went so far as to ask him if he had used some spell on his clothes. Hermione pitied her a little: doesn’t she realize that saying certain things was just ridiculous?

The Quidditch season had begun; the first game would take place the following day, Slytherin against Gryffindor. If Gryffindor had won, they would’ve climbed up again in the standings, passing second in the House Cup. In the end, Ravenclaw had managed to overcome them, all thanks to Parvati’s sister, Hermione was sure of it. She wouldn’t have admitted it with her friends, but even if she didn’t participated in games and training at all, even for her that rhythm was becoming to be exhausting. Wood was a real posse, and since she became friends with Harry, when he really needed it, she did his homework, and with all those practices, he always needed it.

“Flint doesn’t look bad, as a Captain.” Hermione commented, receiving a glare from both Draco and Pansy. Theodore didn’t care much about her. Honestly, Theodore didn’t care about anyone except himself: he lived in a world of his own, and returned to Earth only when it was convenient, ability that helped him a lot during the most boring conversations. Hermione envied him a little. Often when Ron spoke, the only thing she wanted was to find a way not to hear him anymore.

“Last year we were torn apart.” admitted a voice behind them, which made them jump. “But we won’t let it happen again this year.” another voice concluded, and Hermione wouldn’t need to turn around to understand that it was the twins.

“You should not be here.” Hermione pointed out.

“Neither you.” Fred replied.

“She doesn’t play Quidditch, so she can go wherever she wants, blood traitor.” Draco replied, in a hiss. The twins exchanged a knowing look but said nothing. Hermione sat up straight. They could pretend to be friends only until those absurd race differences were named, then she wanted nothing to share with him.

“I think it’s time for me to go.” Hermione announced, getting up.

“Already?” asked Pansy, who had not even noticed her friend’s comment.

“Yeah, I thought you wanted to get insulted a little longer.” Fred replied. He couldn’t stand the Slytherins, and even more her friendship with them, especially with Draco Malfoy. Their families had to have some outstanding accounts.

“Nobody is insulting you here.” Draco answered defensively.

“Of course, you’re just making fun of her.” George replied.

“Theodore, do you mind escorting me to my dorm?” Hermione asked, attracting the boy’s attention, once he heard his name. As an automaton, the young man stood up. They were the same age but he already exceeded her a span.

“See you tomorrow before breakfast?” Pansy asked, to make sure the plans had not changed. Hermione nodded, but was unable even to greet; she didn’t trust her own voice. The twins were right, of course: that was all a farce, and Draco was her friend only because she had blackmailed him. Of course, she had to make the best of a bad game. Snape had given her five points only three hours before, she couldn’t already give up, she still had to prove her worth, with or without her Slytherin friends to kick ass for her.

“You have to give us some time.” Theodore said, once he reached the inside of the castle. “We were raised to believe that people like you were inferior,” he went on, when he realized he had the girl’s attention. “that whoever believes or has believed in the equality between races should be a fool and perhaps worth less than the Mudbloods.”

Hermione winced at hearing that word.

“You don’t have to be afraid of just a couple of letters, you know.” Theodore told her, stopping in the middle of the staircase. Hermione stayed one-step higher than he was, and finally she could see him well in the eye without having to be seated. They were very light blue, almost lighter than Draco’s.

“Hermione?” called Harry, from the top of the flight of stairs. Hermione turned, unable to decide whether she wanted to know what Draco had endured in that family that was definitely not very welcoming.

“What are you doing here?” Hermione asked, hoping she could take time. There was no excuse for racism, she had always been convinced of it, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear reasons that could have made her change her mind.

“I have training at two p.m., Wood discovered that Slytherins called for a special practice and …” Harry replied, very fast, until he stopped and his lips formed the surname that Hermione least wished to hear. When she turned, Draco’s eyes looked like those of a beaten dog.

“I have no time to waste with you, Potter, so disappear.” he said, without even giving him a look. Hermione was amazed by the maturity shown: usually he would find the umpteenth way to make fun of him.

“Theo” he finally said to his friend “do you mind to reach Pansy? I left her alone with the Weasley twins and I’m afraid they’re levitating her upside down.”

Hermione didn’t object, but she knew it was probably a lie. Harry passed them without another word, probably aware that he would have to deal with Hermione later, if only he had tried to said something.

“I’m sorry.” Draco finally said, when the echo of Harry’s footsteps was also extinguished.

Hermione would have really wanted to be able to pout him, even if only for a few hours, just to make him understand that things didn’t work that way; two words and that sad expression weren’t enough to make her give way, yet she couldn’t.

“Apologies accepted.” she said, without too much enthusiasm.

“Do you still have to leave?” Draco asked hopefully. Hermione nodded. She had to do a lot of homework.

“Please, I just want to show you something, and then you can do all the homework you want.”

Hermione accepted with a condescending smile. Sometimes he behaved just like a child in need of attention. Maybe it was true that he just needed more time.


	3. Separation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The friendship between Draco and Hermione continues, although disappointments are always around the corner.

Everyone was looking forward to the holidays. Hermione, four months ago, before leaving and getting to know the wonders of Hogwarts, had thought that those time would’ve been in somehow a torture, that she would’ve missed her parents, and that once the snow had fallen she would begin to feel homesick, that she would’ve missed her Muggle traditions. She was wrong. Obviously, she would’ve come home anyway, she would’ve celebrated Christmas Eve with a big dinner and an even more sumptuous lunch at Christmas, but she was sure she would miss something. Perhaps it would’ve been the Gryffindor Common Room, where, at any time, you could find someone to chat with in front of a crackling fire, or the lessons shared with Draco, where they could afford to whisper all kinds of nonsense without ever being recalled. They were little things, and she would’ve to be deprived of them only for two weeks, but it felt as if a part of her was taken away from her, as if she were going back to being the little girl she no longer was in order to see her parents again.

“I’m sorry I cannot host you all.” Draco said one day, but it was obvious that his sentence wasn’t related to the whole group of people.

“We’ll see each other anyway.” Pansy replied, with a sad smile. She must have been offended by Draco’s choice.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take notes and won’t miss even a detail of the amazing Malfoy Manor.” joked Theodore. Hermione laughed with her friends, hoping that someday she would be able to spend her holidays at her friend’s luxurious house too. Two years passed, and everyone had the opportunity to recounting amazing adventures in the Malfoy possessions, on their return to Hogwarts. Everyone but her. Of course, with time, Hermione understood the reasons, and even if it saddened her, she had made a point: as long as Draco still liked her presence and wrote to her when they couldn’t see each other, things were going well. Moreover, with that slight detachment, Hermione had the opportunity to strengthen the bonds with her other friends: at the beginning of the third year she could boast a week at the Bulstrode house, along with all the girls of what she liked to call the gossip club, a rescue from expulsion by Blaise Zabini and a weekend with the full Weasley family and Harry.

"New third-year course schedules,” said George, passing a piece of paper to her. Hermione looked at him astonished.

“You’re doing Percy a favor?”

The twins exchanged a look, and a little smile appeared on their identical lips.

“I get it.” said Hermione, hiding their first joke of the year in her bag. Who knows what they had invented that time.

“What’s up with you, Harry?” asked Hermione, looking at her friend, who was really pale and showed off enormous eye bags.

“Malfoy,” said Ron, resentful, sitting next to one of his brothers. Hermione rolled her eyes.

“I’ll talk to him. Now can you stop being mad at me for doing nothing wrong?” asked Hermione, pissed, picking up an apples and red currants tart. Every time the same story: Draco did something that annoyed them and she had to act as a peacemaker. She was sure that one day they would ask her to choose between him and them but she wasn’t sure what she would do.

Draco was pretending to faint with terror, causing general hilarity, when Hermione decided she couldn’t bear his behavior anymore. Harry had felt uneasy all day, and he had even avoided looking at his housemates, surely seeing Malfoy with all that sequel would certainly not help. So she came up with wide strides, and saw on Crabbe and Goyle’s faces their smile freeze, and Theodore trying in vain to attract the attention of his friend and make him stop in time.

“Draco.” Hermione called him, with that mature tone that put everyone in awe. The boy turned, his cheeks slightly flushed. He was a child who had been caught in the act, and certainly couldn’t deny his wrongs, not in front of that inquisitorial gaze. “Can we talk a second?” she asked, aware that the friend couldn’t say no, since it was lunchtime.

“Of course.” he replied, breaking away from Pansy and Millicent, who were stuck to him more than usual. It hadn’t escaped to her that he had become much more pretty, that the juvenile chubbiness had left his cheeks, making them more dug, and that his body had stretched out of all proportion; by now, he surpassed her by a good four inches; those details shouldn’t have escaped his housemates’ attention too. They gone as far as needed to not be seen or heard by the other Slytherins but not too far, because they wanted to be sure not to miss lunch and not to make anyone suspicious. Against all odds, someone had already started to whisper about love stories and secret encounters between people of their year. Not that Hermione was particularly interested: it was inevitable that eventually someone would start talking behind her, perhaps misinterpreting her friendship with this or that boy.

“Can I know what’s going on in your head these days?” Hermione asked, as soon as Blaise Zabini, who waved to them, overtook them.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” Draco lied. Hermione knew perfectly well that the friend knew he was wrong, but to be the center of attention, just to have the right friends, he was often willing to anger other people and hurt the feelings of those around him and really cared for him.

“Stop teasing Harry.” she hissed at him, coming to the point.

“Why should I?” he asked. “Our deal didn’t include that I was bound to please your friends.”

Hermione felt like someone stabbed her in the chest. It had been two years since she had thought for the last time about the deal that had united them and believed that he had forgotten, that it was obvious, after all that time, that their friendship was genuine. Perhaps it wasn’t, perhaps she had misinterpreted his attitudes, his letters, perhaps, for him, it had been all a cruel and mean game.

“So the Weasleys were right, you’re just a git full of himself who doesn’t care about nobody except himself.” she replied, wounded. Draco took a second too long to understand why his friend was insulting him that way. He understood only when he saw her leave, her head bent, walking quickly. He followed her with his eyes as she passed without a look his housemates. Pansy ran after her, and Millicent waited for him to come back, only to ask him, rhetorically, what he had done to her, and hurry up to join the other two girls in the nearest bathroom.

“I didn’t mean it in that way-” he whispered to himself.

“Then you should tell her.” replied, calmly, Theodore. "You’ve already risked losing her once; don’t make the same mistake again.”

He was talking about what had happened during the first year, when he had called the Weasley twins blood traitors. On that occasion, Hermione had taken it personally, considering it an insult to all those who like her were born to Muggle’s parents, and Draco understood his mistake although, as often happened, with a little delay.

“But I don’t know what to say …” Draco replied, wearly. He had many things to say to her, and not all of them concerned Potter and his stupid fainting, or the pact they’d done two years ago, but nothing would come out of his lips, he was sure.

“Exactly what you said to me.” replied Theo, and Draco asked himself why his friend was so goddamn good at giving advices.

* * *

Someone knocked at the door insistently, but none of the girls cared, let alone Hermione.

“I perfectly know that you are in there, I have already turned all the bathrooms of the school upside down and your chatterbox roommate has also said I’m a maniac, so, please, come out for a second!” Draco said, and though the girls exchanged an amused look at each other, Hermione with some tears still in her eyes, none moved. After a few moments of silence, Draco started talking again.

“You’re right, I’m an idiot, but I didn’t mean what you think, ok?”

The corridor of Gryffindor’s female dormitory still fell into heavy silence, which lasted so long that Hermione wondered if he hadn’t gone, if he hadn’t decided that he felt really stupid talking to an old wooden door.

“Everyday” he started, and his voice was lower, as if it was hard for him to say those words. “Every day I’m grateful that when you weren’t yet eleven you were an ambitious little bastard. I am grateful that you didn’t let yourself be stopped by appearances, and that you was willing to do anything to get you where you wanted to go, but more than anything else, I am grateful for the patience you have towards me, because it’s true, I am self-centered, but you need to know that I never ever put my interest before yours, because you chose to be my friend even when you shouldn’t have, even when it wasn’t the right thing, even when I wasn’t the right person. “

All the girls were stoned. None expected that Draco Malfoy would really open his heart like that in front of a door. Hermione had begun to cry again like a fountain, and it took several seconds of Pansy’s caress on her back, to make her calm down again. Then, without warning, and making everyone jump, she had got out of bed, opened the door, and before Draco could add anything, she had jumped with her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. She couldn’t be angry with him, she couldn’t hate him, let alone stay away from him, it had been like this for two years and she was sure it would be like that until the end of their days.


	4. The Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A letter frightens Hermione so much she takes distance from Draco

Since Draco had broken his arm, Hermione had become someway his caregiver: she carried around his bag, did his homework and helped him in all those activities that otherwise would’ve been more difficult for him, and not because she have to do it, but because she felt terribly guilty; of course she had probably saved him from a much more serious damage, but it was her who had cast the Depulso spell on him. Since he had been taken to the infirmary, on Monday morning, he had lost at least two really important lessons, but Hermione had taken care to take notes for him during Potions and to pass on her notes of History of Magic, so that he doesn’t have to recover. In the days when he was absent from classes she had always gone to visit him, both alone and accompanied, partly to be forgiven, partly because she lacked his constant presence around, but see him in the classroom, halfway through that Thursday morning, was a real relief: he entered swaggered into the dungeon, his right arm covered in bandages and bound up in a sling, looking like the heroic survivor of some dreadful battle. Snape greeted him with a grunt, and Draco sat next to Hermione, who shared the worktable with Harry and Ron, in absence of her usual companion.

“How is it, Draco?” simpered Hermione “Does it hurt much?”

Draco rolled his eyes: “As I already told you four hours ago, I’m fine, I’m not about to die. I have to keep this thing for at least a week more but it’s not as bad as it seemed, but you already know this too, because you’re stubborn and you stood here while Madame Pomfrey treated me.”

Hermione just smiled, but didn’t answer, cutting the daisy’s roots for him too. They were making a new potion, a Shrinking Solution, and it required a lot of precision. She was skinning Draco’s shrivelfig when she noticed Neville’s potion: it was totally wrong, and he must’ve forgotten that, in this case, the caterpillar head was used, since two insects’ heads stood on the table. Everything became even worst, however, when he added too much wormwood infusion. Hermione couldn’t quite stop him, and watched his potion change abruptly, shift from acid green to orange.

“Don’t tell me you want to help that whiny pig.” Draco said, trying to juice the leeches for both of them, in hope to be useful. The girl glared at him, but he ignored her.

“You know Neville’s my friend.” she said, hoping to make him understand his mistake.

“I also know that that potion has to be completely redone, in order to make it at least acceptable.” Draco noted, calmly. He was right, and Hermione knew it, so she wasn’t amazed by Snape’s outburst when he realized the mistake.

“What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?“ he asked, as a closure. Neville didn’t answered, and everybody in the class stood silent, looking at the poor boy.

“Maybe pair him with someone competent could be a great start.” said Hermione. She knew she had just signed her own death sentence, that even Draco’s presence wouldn’t stop her professor’s fury, but she didn’t cared as long as he stopped yelling at Neville, whose face was as pale as a rag

“And who would you suggest, Granger? Yourself?” he asked, in a derogatory tone. A defiant smile was painted on her lips. If that man wanted war, he would have.

“Actually, I was thinking of Theodore, who’s working with Blaise, even if they’re both particularly fond of the subject, while neither Neville nor Lily seem to know what you’re talking about, Sir.” Hermione finished, throwing a meaningful glance at Theodore, who seemed about to want to put his head in the cauldron and drown himself with his perfect potion.

“I think she’s right.” Draco agreed. “I would offer myself as a volunteer but unfortunately with the broken arm I would be of little help.”

Snape seemed to evaluate the issue more than he should, and even had to realize that the whole class was staring at him, wondering why he hadn’t yet agreed to that brilliant suggestion.

“And so be it,” Snape hissed, annoyed. “But I will take five points from Gryffindor for your insolence.” he sentenced, but the girl didn’t care: she would raise the score once the potion was over and Snape was renowned for trying to favor his House in all ways, even the less orthodox ones.

“Why did you help me?” Hermione asked as she hurriedly put away her books and Draco’s. They were alone in the basement, and not even Snape had taken care to keep an eye on them: he probably thought that his pupil would never steal anything from his classroom. Maybe it was true, maybe not; Hermione had never asked Draco to steal something for her.

“You care about that guy, and I was rude, I wanted you to forgive me.” he answered quietly. Since they had quarreled, two weeks before, her friend seemed more comfortable talking about his feelings. “Besides, I don’t want the only professor who favors me to be accused of Neville’s death only because the boy has a delicate heart.” added Draco, to lighten the mood. Hermione punched him on the healthy shoulder and they left the classroom laughing but her mood changed abruptly a couple of hours later, when she was in her room, studying for the theoretical Potions test Snape planned for next Tuesday, when she noticed that she took Draco’s book and gave Draco hers. She was ready to get up and go to the dungeons to find him when a white piece of paper dropped on the floor. It was hidden between the pages, and Hermione certainly didn’t have the right to read it, but it was a too great temptation. It took little to realize that it was a letter from his parents. He must have been his father to write, but he always spoke for his wife as well, as if the family were something impossible to separate.

_Although we are more than satisfied with your grades, and we are grateful that your arm is slowly healing, we cannot ignore that it was a Muggleborn to hurt you that way, nor can we overlook the fact that you so shamelessly lied to us: did you believe that no one would come to tell us how things really went? In any case, we will take serious measures. We have already started to talk to the principal, although I am sure that the old man isn’t going to listen to us. For your own good, and for that of the good name of the family, we ask you, again, to stop attending certain poor companies that don’t fit at all with your rank and your blood status. If you continue with this policy, you leave us no choice but to send you to Durmstrang next year. Igor will understand the reasons of our choice and will be able to guide you in the best way. We rely on your common sense._

Hermione was speechless. For the rest of the afternoon she couldn’t do anything except turn that letter in her hands, as if reading it endlessly could change the meaning of those words. What should she have done different? And should she tell him she knew or she should remain silent and enjoy the last moments together? Perhaps, if only she had stayed away from him, his parents would’ve allowed him to stay and they could’ve had a few moments stolen here and there over the years: it wasn’t exactly how Hermione had imagined things would’ve gone, but it was better than nothing. She was brooding for so long that she barely noticed that Ginny had entered the room to call her for dinner. In the Great Hall, Hermione tried to avoid the look of her friend who kept trying to get her attention throughout the dinner and had to run away before the end to prevent him from approaching her but the worst part was the night, after Ginny had sent her a note from the boy, who wanted to know what he had done wrong; Hermione hadn’t the faintest idea how to answer him and she wondered if it would’ve been better if she hadn’t done it at all, although Draco deserved an explanation. The next day, with deep circles around her eyes, that were tired and a little reddened by tears, Hermione confronted him in the Great Hall, handed him back his Potions book and told him to stay away from her, although knowing that those would be the last words they would exchange broke her heart more than she would’ve believed. For a couple of days he tried to face her, looking for a motivation that he should’ve given himself, but she was always surrounded by her housemates, that hardly seemed to have noticed her pain, too happy that she had abandoned their worst enemy’s company.

“Finally! I thought you would never ditch him!” Ron said to her one day and although he had been more insensitive than usual, she merely smiled sadly, too tired to respond. Harry, who instead noticed that something was wrong, gave him a dirty look and for that small gesture Hermione was grateful to him, until she found Draco in the deserted Common Room, waiting for her. She didn’t even have to ask who had brought him in or pretended not to know why he was there, because he held the letter in his hands, so they sat together in front of the extinguished fireplace, a sign that school was about to end.

“Did you really believe that my parents’ threats would somehow stop me?” he asked, looking for her gaze. Hermione couldn’t stand what she knew she would read in his icy eyes, so she stared stubbornly at the floor, until the silence reached out long enough to make her understand that Draco wouldn’t add anything else till she answered him.

“I knew you wouldn’t stop, so I had to do it! Do you think I wouldn’t want things to come back like before? Do you think I wouldn’t spend my time with you rather than in my room or with Harry and Ron? Do you know they do nothing but talk about Quidditch and treat me as if I bother them? Yet I remain there, and I’ll continue to do so, because if you continue to spend time with me sooner or later you’ll have to leave and I’ll be alone and I don’t think I could bear your absence once I’m alone.” she blurted out, and the words came out like a flood, breaking through the fragile banks that she had so carefully built in those days. Even the tears began to press down on her eyes, but she forced herself to hold them, not for Draco but for the curious who leaned over both corridors that faced the dormitories. Out of the corner of her eye she recognized Fred’s face, which didn’t seem happy with the turn things were taking, or perhaps only with seeing Malfoy in his territory. Recently the most outgoing of the twins had begun to behave strangely with her, as if desperately looking for a way to get her attention; if only she could like his company as she liked Draco’s, she and her closest friend wouldn’t have found each other entertained on that conversation.

“Hermione, you’re not alone and you’ll never be, not only because I won’t leave but also because you have Pansy, Millicent and Lily who love you and would do anything for you, including hitting me with a book, which happened a few days ago, since they were convinced that I had made you change your mind about the whole House.” he said, snatching her a little laugh. She could already imagine the scene and she knew that, despite her stature, it was Pansy who hit him. “We don’t care what House you’re in or who your parents are, you’re one of us and you will always remain, got it?”

She nodded but it didn’t solve the problem with his parents.

“It’ll take time, especially for my father, but he’ll understand your worth. Now, if you agree, could you come with me to the dungeons since Theodore threaten to kill me if I hadn’t come to apologize for whatever I did?”

Hermione nodded, wondering if this was his way of telling her that his friends weren’t aware of the contents of the letter.

“And what about that?” she asked, looking at the letter still in his hand, just before taking the stairs that led to the door hidden by the portrait. He crumpled it and threw it into one of the Common Room trash can but he couldn’t have made a bigger mistake.


	5. Ephipany

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione understands some things by looking Draco in the eyes

Ever since the gossip that Draco would be sent to Durmstrang the following year because of her had spread, Hermione had failed to sleep at all: first the girls and then the boys found the most disparate ways to ask her questions and then there was homework, a lot of classes and the need to build a line of defense for Buckbeak because, despite Draco’s protests, his father still managed to bring his case to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures’ attention. Obviously he was helping her to the best of his ability as he felt guilty as if he was the one supposed to drop the ax on the magnificent creature's neck. Furthermore, Sirius Black’s raid frightened everyone to the point of making them extremely suspicious of each other: it was known that the Lord Voldemort’s dangerous supporter had betrayed Harry’s parents and it was because of him they had been so brutally killed so the Gryffindor thought that it must be one of the Slytherins who helped him penetrate Hogwarts’ defenses while the Slytherins argued, as their parents must’ve told them something, but it never came to Hermione’s ears, that it must’ve been Harry himself who helped him or, although only a few people whispered it behind his back as he passed, Lupin. The surveillance was tighter but Hermione couldn’t help but notice that the One-Eyed Witch statue on the third floor had remained unattended. Obviously she didn't believe in those stupid gossip and only she, Harry, Ron, Fred and George knew of the existence of that passage, but nothing forbade that, since Black had gone to Hogwarts when he was a younger, he knew a few more secrets than them. When she had suggested telling someone, though, Ron had been immovable: they would’ve asked too many questions and they desperately needed the Marauders Map, although Hermione didn't like that story at all. So Hermione moved further away from them, and although she occasionally complained to Hagrid when she went to bring him Buckbeak's defense material, they never spoke again, which made Draco incredibly suspicious.

"Hermione, for the thousandth time, if they did something to you, you can tell me and we'll solve it together." he had repeated her one morning during the break, but she had minimized as usual, partly because they hadn't actually done anything wrong, partly because she knew perfectly well that for Draco every excuse was good to try to face her friends. So she continued to eat shut up between Ginny and Angelina, with the other Weasley’s redheads sitting in front her, though not even the twins seemed very much in the mood to talk to her at the moment.

"I don't understand why my brothers insist on behaving like children." Ginny had told her one night in the Common Room, when everyone else had gone to bed, but Hermione hadn’t been able to tell her the truth, so she replied with _they’re boys_, which always worked well in those kind of situations, and had hidden her pained expression among the books. Things seemed to settle down, at least in part, when a trip to Hogsmeade was announced for Saturday: the news about Draco, if it could be called like that, had now become an old thing and if the professors and especially the headmaster trusted them to wander around it meant that Sirius Black's freedom was no longer so worrying. So Hermione had breakfast as quickly as possible, finished the vampire essay for Lupin, and even played Exploding Snap with Neville before following her housemates where Filch would check the signatures on their permits. Obviously Hermione's parents had been happy to sign while she suspected that Draco's had long pondered what to do, given how long it took to get the form back. Even the Weasleys must have agreed because the twins and Ron were lined up in front of her, all of them careful not to meet her sad eyes.

"Do they think they can continue like this for a long time?" Draco asked her when they were no longer within earshot. "Don't they see that they make you feel bad?"

"I think they don't care." she muttered, knowing already how it would end.

"I could make it matter in a moment." he growled, full of anger, bringing his hand to his wand, but she stopped him, intertwining her fingers with his and driving them away from what might have been a weapon too powerful for an angry teenager. Their eyes met, probably because in all those years spent together they had never held hands, and Hermione had an epiphany: did she really care that a bunch of kids behaved just as one would expect when Draco was willing to sacrifice anything to stay with her? Could her ask for better housemates when she had the daring Ginny and the wise Angeline who loved her as a sister? And didn’t all those sadness diminished her friendship with Pansy and Millicent, who were coming their way hopping happily in their new matching jackets?

"They’re not worth it." she whispered to Draco.

"I wish they would see you as I do. In that case they would understand." he replied, without looking down. It was an intense moment, as they had never had, but soon it would be over, the voices of their friends getting closer and closer.

"It doesn't matter, the important thing is that you continue to see me like this." she whispered, before letting go of his hand and grabbing Pansy who had thrown herself into her arms.

"I'm so happy!" the girl exclaimed with her voice made even more acute by enthusiasm. "I'm sorry for Lily but excluding her it's the first time we're all go together!"

Hermione smiled, though she could barely breathe, and they waited for Filch to check Theodore and Blaise's signatures before rejoining the rest of the group, where McGonagall was looking at the whole scene, perplexed, probably asking herself if the Sorting Hat didn’t made a mistake; Hermione, however, was happy with her own House and knew that if she had been sorted elsewhere she would have had no way to make other acquaintances and make other connections. Also, it wasn’t perhaps among the Slytherins that the Sorting Hat had said they would find their real friends?


	6. The Virdict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you are a teenager, sometimes school commitments tend to split you from your friends, and in this way a wizarding school is no different from a Muggle one

"He sent me this," said Hermione, and held out the letter. Draco took it. The parchment was damp, and huge tears had made the ink drool so much that it was hard to read several words.

Dear Hermione,

we lost. They gave me permission to return him to Hogwarts. The date of execution must still be set. Buckbeak liked London. I won’t forget the help you gave us.

Hagrid

"They can't do it," Pansy said. "Buckbeak isn’t dangerous”

"My father terrorized those on the Committee until they were decided," Draco said, wiping his eyes wet with tears that he was stubborn about not spilling. “You know how he is and those are a bunch of trembling old men, some even older than Dumbledore! They’ve had fear. There will be the appeal, however, there’s always, but I see no hope, nothing will change.”

Hermione threw her arms around Draco's neck and burst into tears softly. He patted her on the head until she stopped and it was time to go to class, right at Hagrid’s, who seemed stunned by the shock of the verdict.

"It's all my fault. I didn't know what to say. They were all sitting there with their black clothes and my notes kept falling and I forgot all the dates you found for me, Hermione. And then Lucius Malfoy got up and made his speech, and the Committee did what he said... " he explained to Hermione while Draco and the other Slytherins kept their distance, out of respect. Hermione had reassured them that the half-giant would never have blamed them for what happened but only Draco's father’s insistence and his stubbornness in wanting to avert his son from her but they didn't want to hear reasons and maybe it was even better that way , as Ron and Harry approached to console him too, allowing Hermione to stalk away to use undisturbed the Time-turner professor McGonagall gave her to attend all the lessons. Even with it following them all was starting to get on her nerves but fortunately, although the cause was extremely unpleasant, Hermione dropped out from divination and her schedule became way more bearable although the Easter holidays weren’t exactly soothing, with all the homework the professors had assigned them, not to mention the fact that with all those training sessions, Draco and Hermione had barely had time to greet each other when they met in the Great Hall, to the extreme joy of his father, who had even sent him a big package of which Hermione didn’t know the content.

"Do you think it's a Firebolt like Potter's?" asked Pansy one day during a study session, but Hermione hadn’t even raised her head from her book while Millicent replied that it couldn’t be, given the shape of the wrapper. "But what do you want to know about brooms?" Lily had asked, and Hermione, who already had nerves on edge, had told the three friends, badly, to shut up. Since that day, not even the three Slytherin's girls had wanted to study with her anymore until Hermione, the night before the game that everyone was waiting for so anxiously, didn’t decide to put the books aside and go down in the dungeons to wish Draco good luck.

"We thought we would never see you again." Pansy, the one who was most disappointed by her attitude, hissed.

"If you think it's a personal thing, or worse, a House thing, you can’t be more wrong." Hermione replied, without losing sight of Draco, who was perpetually surrounded by people.

"I'm sure it's not like that, but we didn't think we would see you again since Draco has gained so much popularity since he stopped hanging out with you. We thought, but correct me if I'm wrong, that you let him go for his own good."

Hermione caught Pansy's cold stare and wondered what she had lost in those weeks, until Millicent intervened to explain the situation to her, but only once her tiny friend got up to fetch a drink: “Ignore her, she wants to hurt you just because she's upset about your attitude over the last few weeks. I understand that you want to excel and we all know how you got to go well in potions so it doesn't surprise me you put all your efforts in it, but it’s only distancing you from the things that really matter in life and Pansy isn’t one that forgives quickly.”

“Then what’s your advice?”

"Give her time and actively engage in recovering her trust, with her it’s the only way." she cut short, seeing her friend was now returning with two butterbeers, but it was obvious that she too had had some disagreements she didn't want to talk about. To talk to Draco, however, she had to wait around the end of the party, at midnight.

"As usual, we don't have much time." he told her in a whisper, making her wince. The girls just left her alone, but in the silence of the dungeons she didn’t mind: the sound of the fireplace where the embers still crackled merrily and the chatter of the last few people awake had made her feel more at ease than anything that had ever happened in the Gryffindor Common Room. "Snape will arrive in less than half an hour, so you better be out of reach when it happens."

"We would’ve had more time if only you weren’t surrounded by a horde of admirers." she replied as her friend sat down next to her on the black leather sofa.

"The price of celebrity." he answered, making her laugh, but the moment of hilarity ended soon. "I heard you had an argument with Pansy. Or should I say a misunderstanding?”

Hermione smiled sadly: he was the king of misunderstandings.

"As I imagined.” he replied, contenting himself with her expression as an answer. "It’s typical of the Slytherins. You must understand that if they’ve relegated us down there, there should be a reason."

"I didn't know you wanted to be a comedian."

"I leave the part to the Weasleys, I'm just trying to cheer up a friend."

"So we're still friends? Even if I behaved like a bitch?" she asked and Draco widened his eyes, aghast.

“I'm a friend of Hermione Granger, the one who puts study first and never says a bad word. Who are you? What did you do to her?"

Hermione surrendered and dropped her head on the arm of the sofa only to sit back incredibly quickly when she heard footsteps outside the entrance.

"Snape is coming." she whispered, standing up with an agility that she didn’t believe she still had, after all that time spent on books. Even Draco was whippy and as soon as the teacher's shadow entered the Common Room he closed behind his shoulders the door of a dark room where two other boys were sleeping. Although her eyes hadn’t yet become well accustomed to the sudden darkness, Hermione noticed that the furniture was not so different from where she slept, as she had always imagined, but something made it all darker and less welcoming, more high-placed. Draco almost pushed her into the closet, and although Hermione wasn't very tall, she struggled to find an empty corner where she could crouch. The first thing she noticed was the lingering scent: in there everything smelled clean but also of the indistinguishable fragrance that Draco used, nothing you could find on the Muggle shelves, a richly layered perfume with notes of leather, tobacco, bright citrus fruits and spices. When they were younger, Hermione had always found it too sharp for a boy but now she warmed up to the scent and without it she wouldn't have felt like she was with Draco but with a substitute. The only thing that didn't have that unmistakable aroma was a dress covered with a black dress cover that unmistakably smelled like every new thing from Twilfitt and Tattings. Trying not to make any noise, Hermione leaned forward enough to discover a small part of it. To her utter astonishment, it didn’t hide a new cloak or a male ceremonial dress but a woman's dress of a beautiful emerald green.

"We can change color if you want." Draco commented, making her wince. "But I don't think you'd like the occasion for my mother sent it."

"They celebrate the verdict, don't they?" she asked, and even if Draco didn't nod she would still know the answer.

"Who they wanted you to take?" asked Hermione coming out of the closet.

“I think Pansy, they love her, but probably Lily would be fine too”

“I suppose as long as they are Slytherin and resemble your mother it’s fine, it doesn't matter if she has a brain smaller than a hippogriff's.” she replied. She didn't know whether to be heartbroken or somehow disappointed, even though she had no reason to feel either way.

"You gave the idea." he confirmed, sadly. “Not that I plan on going.”

"Don't you think they will get angry?" she asked, casually closing one of the doors and then resting her back on it. She knew that Draco's parents were disgusting but she didn't believe up to that point. Evidently, there was no limit to the worst.

"They are already angry, since they know that as far as possible I have helped you build the defense for Buckbeak. I think theirs is just a mocking gesture, as if to remind me that they are more powerful, and that despite my efforts I’ll never beat them by playing their game.”

He said it naturally, as if he were used to it, but Hermione doubted that there had ever been any war between the Malfoy before that year and it was only her fault.

"You can't win because they don't play by the rules." she tried to console him, but it was probably here that his parents wanted to arrive. “Don't let them change you with their machinations. I couldn’t bear to lose my best friend.”

“Best friend?” he asked, although the tone was a little disappointed.

“What do you want to be? My bestest best friend?” she asked sarcastically.

“Bestest best friend…” he repeated as if he really were weighing the appellation. “I like it.”


	7. The Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big game arrived and with it news that Hermione would've preferred not to know

Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor team came in the Great Hall in the morning greeted by a thunderous applause. Hermione also joined in the hope that this was the best way to make her friends forgive her, and although Harry seemed pleased to see her cheer on his team, the same couldn’t be said of Ron or her Slytherin friends, that booed the red and gold team. Hermione noticed that Draco was even paler than usual but didn't have time to ask him what he had as he ran in the field with the rest of his team to get an idea of the conditions in which they would play. As they left, only the Slytherins applauded and Pansy shouted a specific wish for Draco, who had made Hermione’s breakfast roll up in her stomach, to the point that she had to get up and go out for a walk. Now that the situation had calmed down, finding herself alone was harder than she could’ve imagined, but she tried not to even think about that, concentrating on the sensation of the sun on her skin.

"It's all OK?" asked a female voice behind her. It was Lily, who approached jogging, looking worried.

Hermione nodded, though she felt tears wet her eyes as her friend approached.

"I wanted to ask you if you would like to sit with us to watch the game at the end of the breakfast, you know, to avoid that some Gryffindors could take my invasion at their table badly, but you left so quickly that I thought you didn't feel well, but Millicent saw you come out, so... " she tried to justify herself, unaware of the fact that the gesture was worth more than a thousand nice words to Hermione.

"I'll be there. I just need to breathe for a while. You know, in the Great Hall the air was a little tense." replied Hermione, who was starting to feel better but still had a terrible headache.

"But you can't imagine what happened after you left!" the other exclaimed, and Hermione ended up following her to the camp while she told her about the latest gossips of the castle.

"We missed you a lot these weeks, especially Pansy. I also think I heard her cry one night, but it may have been because she took a P in the History of Magic assignment."

Hermione's eyes widened, horrified. She was the only Gryffindor willing to pass the questions of Binns' homework to the Slytherins and if they had all gone bad since she had stopped doing it, this meant that Draco's grades also got worse, which wasn’t right, given the deal they made two years ago.

"Don't worry," Lily assured her, noticing her expression, "we managed to fix it, all thanks to Draco, who agreed to go out for a date with Mandy Brocklehurst, that Binns' assistant... " explained Lily, but Hermione was no longer listening, staring at nothing, lost in the thought that Draco had gone out with someone and hadn't told her.

* * *

No one spoke as they wore green uniforms. Draco wondered if everyone felt the same thing he felt, as if at breakfast they had swallowed something very, very agitated, but then remembered that he was the only one with so much to prove. After what seemed like a moment, Flint said: “Ok, it's time, let's go.”

They went out on the field, greeted by a wave of thunderous enthusiasm. Most of the crowd wore scarlet rosettes, waved scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion drawn on or held banners with slogans like 'GO GRIFONDOR!' and 'THE CUP TO THE LIONS' but behind the Slytherin goal at least two hundred people, including Snape, who was sitting in the front row, were lined up all wearing green, the Slytherin’s silver snake sparkled on their flag. He almost immediately recognized Mandy, sitting with her friends, who had all abandoned their house’s colors in favor of Draco’s, and tried not to think too much about their first date. He had done it just to get those damn questions and not bother Hermione, after all it was no secret that she had a crush on him since about the time he joined the Quidditch team, so he hadn't seen anything wrong with taking advantage of the thing and also they were both single, something that not all the girls who drooled at the Quidditch team members’ sight could say, so he had invited her to Madam Puddifoot, a cramped, steamy little place where everything seemed to have been decorated with frills or bows but that Blaise had assured him to be one of the favorite places for girls in Hogsmeade. Indeed, every table could count at least one girl, whether she was with her boyfriend, a crush or her friends. Senselessly, Draco had scanned the room for Hermione, but she was nowhere to be found if not immersed in books at Hogwarts, and he hadn’t been able to decide whether he had been relieved or disappointed by the idea. Also that day he scanned the stands in search of Hermione, and found her crushed between Lily and Millicent, with Pansy looking at her sideways from time to time. Draco smiled, partly because he was certain that those two would quickly make peace, partly because, all morning, he had doubted that he would find her rooting for him. As always, she hadn’t exaggerated, perhaps out of respect for her Housemates playing against him, perhaps because she wasn’t a big fan of certain displays, but she was wearing a scarf that Draco had given her the previous year, before all the Heir thing, and it made Draco senselessly happy, though she never caught his eye. Once the presentations were over, the captains shook their hands as always, and the game began. He began immediately to heel Potter, in the hope that the farce would end quickly, but the snitch couldn’t be seen anywhere and meanwhile, despite Flint's misconduct, the Gryffindors continued to score, until the Slytherin captain did it too, generating a burst of applause from the Slytherin wing. Lee Jordan, the commentator, that has always cheered for his house, said a bad word so serious that professor McGonagall tried to tear off his hands the magic megaphone.

“Forgive me, professor, forgive me! It won’t happen again!” he said, even though everyone knew it wasn't true, and so the commentary continued, although, if there had been a Slytherin in his place, he would’ve been replaced without hesitation. It was quickly becoming the dirtiest game Draco had ever played and if usually he would’ve enjoyed it, he did nothing but think of Hermione, at the fact that he would at least have invited her to the after game party, until he saw a twinkle, six meters higher. Even Potter must’ve seen it and thanks to his decidedly superior broom he passed him, until Draco grabbed the back to stop him. That snitch must have been his and that game had to be won by Slytherin, he didn't care how important it was to Wood.

"You..." Harry was so furious it was obvious he would’ve gladly beat Malfoy, but he couldn't reach him, even though his opponent was out of breath from the effort to keep him.

"Penalty! Penalty for Gryffindor! I've never seen such a behavior!” Madame Hooch screamed, darting up while Draco was straddling his Nimbus 2001.

“You, scoundrel cheater!” wailed Jordan in the megaphone, hopping out of Professor McGonagall’s reach, “You, bastard impostor!”

Draco paid no attention to him, but he glanced where Hermione should’ve been to check her reaction. He had explained to her countless times that breaking a few rules, especially in Quidditch, made it more exciting and there was the ref to put everyone back in line, and although at first she didn’t seem very convinced, she had laughed at some of his shenanigans, but not this time, since the girl was gone with Pansy and with her his interest in winning the game.


	8. The Turning Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco is suspicious of Hermione's attitude and decides to follow her.

Gryffindor's euphoria for finally conquering the Quidditch Cup lasted at least a week. Even the weather seemed to celebrate with them, and as June approached, the days became serene and sultry, which made Draco even more indisposed than Potter’s satisfied face as the only thing he wanted to do was walk in the meadows and throw himself down on the grass with several pints of frozen pumpkin juice, playing some absent-minded game of Gobstones or watching the huge octopus advancing dreamy on the Lake’s surface with Hermione but she avoided him like the plague so he just studied with Mandy and his friends even though he would’ve greatly preferred the whole matter to be forgotten. Not that it would last much longer: in a short time they would all go home and he had no intention of inviting her to spend even a day at the Manor or to reply to her letters. On the other hand, if he could’ve asked Hermione to spend some time with him, maybe things would’ve settled. But how? If his parents had only caught a glimpse of her curly hair, they would’ve gone mad. The only thing he could do was ask for Pansy’s help even if she seemed to be the only person more nervous than him in the whole castle; even the students who had to do OWLs and NEWTs were more relaxed.

"Buckbeak's appeal is July the 6th." she explained, without even raising her head from the multitude of parchment sheets she was reading. Draco froze: his father must have chosen the last day of exams for a reason. "It’ll be held here." went on Pansy. "Someone from the Ministry and an executioner will come."

So they had already decided, it didn't matter all he, Pansy, Hermione and even Millicent had done to prevent it. Yet there had to be a way to avoid it and Hermione surely knew it.

* * *

The exam week began and an unnatural quiet descended on the castle. On Monday the third year students left Transfiguration for lunch, sad and pale, comparing the results and complaining about the difficulty of the tests, including the transformation of a teapot into a tortoise but quite different things buzzed in her mind. If she had used the Time-Turner she would’ve been able to fix the Buckbeak situation but she would’ve betrayed McGonagall's trust since she had told her to use it only and exclusively to attend multiple lessons at the same time. Obviously if she hadn’t done it immense suffering would’ve hit Hagrid with the strength of a hurricane and she loved her sensible friend too much to stand it, not to mention the fact that she would’ve been the reason why Malfoy's hateful victorious smile would die. It would’ve been a great satisfaction, especially after what they had put her through with Draco, although in the end things had gone wrong for different reasons. And here is the other thought that didn’t allow her to concentrate as she wanted, what she had to reject if she wanted to be able to function like a normal person. She ate quickly, trying not to look at the Slytherin's table, and then ran upstairs again for the Charm exam, in which, as Hermione had imagined, cheering charms were asked. Harry exaggerated a little for the tension so that Ron, who was teaming up with him, had hysterical giggles and had to stay in a quiet place for an hour before being able to perform the spell in turn. After dinner, the students hurried back to the common rooms, not to relax, but to revise Care of the Magical Creatures, Potions and Astronomy. The next morning Hagrid attended the exam but he seemed worried, as if he was thinking of something else, and Hermione couldn’t blame him. He had prepared a large tub of Flobberworms for the class and he told them they had to be still alive the next hour to pass the test. Since Flobberworms thrived if left alone, it was the easiest exam they ever took, plus it gave Harry, Ron, that after the cheering charm had started talking to her again, but Hermione also suspected it was because she no longer spoke to Draco, and Hermione a chance to talk to Hagrid.

"Beak is a little down," said Hagrid, bending over with the excuse of checking that Harry's Flobberworm was still alive. “He has been locked up for too long. Anyway, we'll know the day after tomorrow, one way or another.”

Hermione’s heart broke hearing those words but she still couldn’t make a decision about what to do since that afternoon there was the Potions’ exam, which was a total disaster since Hermione couldn’t taking her eyes off Draco, it didn’t matter how hard she tried, and he noticed, which seemed to give him the idea of being able to speak to her again.

"You really don't understand, do you?" she asked, before disappearing into the Astronomy tower. On Wednesday morning it was History of Magic’s turn and Hermione wrote everything she knew about the Middle Ages’ witch hunt, longing to be able to being shut in Pansy’s room eating a large box of ice cream. Instead, in the afternoon, there was Herbology in the greenhouses, under a scorching sun, then all back to the common room with burned neck and back, to wish it was already tomorrow at the same time, when all would be over. The penultimate exam, Thursday morning, was Defense against the Dark Arts. Professor Lupin had concocted the most unusual exam they ever had: a sort of outdoor obstacle course, in which they had to cross a small basin that contained a grindylow, to overcome a series of holes full of red caps, making their way along a path in the swamp ignoring the mischievous advice of a hinkypunk and finally climbing inside an old trunk and fight against a boggart. Hermione did everything perfectly until she got at the last obstacle; after a minute she came out of the trunk crying.

"Hermione!" said Professor Lupin in alarm. "What happens?"

Hermione knew she had simply a boggart in front of her, that that wasn't really Draco and probably he didn't really think those things, but she just couldn't think of anything ridiculous that could make her laugh at that scene. It took a while to calm her down but when she finally regained control of herself, Harry and Ron, who never stopped asking her what she had seen with an extremely worried expression, returned to the castle, where they found Cornelius Fudge, slightly warmed up in his pinstriped cloak , which looked towards the park. At the sight of Harry he greeted him and asked him about the exams while Ron and Hermione, who had never spoken to the Minister of Magic, lingered awkwardly behind him.

"Nice day," said Fudge, glancing at the lake. "What a pity..." He sighed deeply and looked at Harry. “I'm here on an unpleasant mission: the Committee for the Suppression of Dangerous Creatures has requested a witness for the execution of a Hippogriff. And since I already had to come to Hogwarts to see how things are going with Black, they sent me. "

"Does that mean there's already been the appeal?" Ron interrupted, making a step forward.

"No, it's set for this afternoon," said Fudge looking at Ron with curiosity.

"Then you may not have to witness any executions!" said Ron obstinately. "The Hippogriff could even get away with it!"

Before Fudge could answer, two wizards left the castle and joined him. One was so old that seemed to shrivel up before them and the other was tall and robust, with a thin black mustache. Hermione assumed they were representatives of the Dangerous Creature Suppression Committee, because the first wizard squinted at Hagrid's hut and said in a high-pitched voice: “I'm too old for these things... it's at two o'clock, isn't it?"

The wizard with the black mustache was brushing his thumb against something hanging from his belt; Hermione looked better and saw that it was the blade of a shining ax. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but she nudged him and nodded towards the entrance hall just in time.

"Why did you interrupt me?" said Ron furiously as they entered the Great Hall for lunch. "You saw them? They already have the ax ready! This isn’t justice! "

"Ron, your father works for the Ministry, you can't speak to his boss in that tone!" said Hermione but she was upset too, and more than ever reason and feelings fought in her mind. "If this time Hagrid checks our notes and discuss the case properly, they cannot execute Buckbeak .” she said, and she hoped she had put enough conviction in it, because she intended to do something in which they should’ve nothing to do.

* * *

All around the students spoke animatedly, waiting cheerfully for the exams’ end that afternoon but Draco didn’t imitate them: Hermione had approached Pansy and the two girls were talking animatedly trying to maintain a soft tone of voice, a distraction that would’ve been fatal if it hadn’t been Draco to eavesdrop. They talked about breaking the rules, which was very unusual for Hermione, and about doing something that, according to Pansy, could’ve had catastrophic consequences. After the Divination exam, Draco decided to follow them. He would never have expected to find them hidden in the Forbidden Forest’s offshoot, waiting for the executioner to suppress the hippogriff but he would’ve expected less to hear Potter and Weasley’s voice coming from Hagrid’s hut when they were nowhere around.

"What are they doing here?" asked Pansy, who was all trembling. What they were going to do must’ve been really dangerous if she was so tense.

"They’ll come to console Hagrid, I suppose. But this complicates things..." Hermione muttered, and Draco could imagine her concentrated expression.

"We have to let him die, don't we? We have to let him die and take the Cloak away from those two idiots so we can hide from ourselves and..." Pansy began, but Hermione silenced her.

"I can't do it. I can't see him die. We have to leave." and she turned so quickly that Draco didn't have time to hide better, so she saw him. For a moment she seemed surprised but then anger took over.

"Wasn't I clear enough? I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to have anything to do with you..." she began, approaching him with great strides, but Draco covered her mouth just in time so as not to let her be heard from Fudge and Macnair , an old friend of his father.

"Please, let's move." Pansy whispered. "I can't stand it, I can't I do it."

They began to rise again in the depths as the sun went down rapidly, the sky, barely visible between the branches, of a light gray streaked with violet. Draco heard Potter and Weasley’s voice again, then a squeak, finally the unmistakable hiss of an ax, followed by a thump. They had done it. Incredulous and emptied by shock, all three were paralyzed with horror. Then they heard a wild howl behind them.

"Hagrid." murmured Hermione. Without thinking, she started to turn, but Pansy and Draco grabbed her by the arms.

"We can't," said Pansy, white as a rag. "Remember what we have to do..." but before she could finish, the other silenced her. Draco had short, irregular breathing. Were they pondering revenge? And on whom? On the members of the Committee? On the Ministry of Magic in person? Or just on the executioner? Taking it out on such an influential member of wizarding society was a stupid decision and Pansy should’ve known better, if not Hermione herself. Or maybe they wanted... Draco tried not to think about it. Even though she was mad at him and his father wasn't exactly a saint, he was certain that Hermione would never try to hurt his family.

"We should go." said Hermione, with a strange resolve in her eyes. They set off for the castle, advancing slowly so as not to be heard. The light now dimmed quickly. When they were forced to move on

open fields, darkness fell like a spell around them.

"Stand still! Ouch! He bit me!" exclaimed Weasley, who had to be well hidden as the voice attracted the attention of all three but he can’t see the specific source of the sound. Hermione, on her part, must’ve saw something since she went down a dozen steps and seemed to lift an invisible veil, revealing both Potter and Weasley.

"You shouldn't be here." she hissed, apparently not at all surprised by the fact that those two idiots had an Invisibility Cloak. "And you should move and make no noise if you don't want Fudge to see you. Or hear you."

"I found Scabbers again!" exclaimed Weasley, as if he hadn't heard what Hermione had just said. "But he doesn't want to be quiet."

He was actually holding a clearly terrified looking mouse who was shaking with all his might to free himself from his grasp.

"Leave that stupid mouse alone!" snapped Pansy. "As you found it once, you'll find it again."

But the rodent slipped between Weasley's fingers, fell to the ground and fled. In one leap, Hermione’s cat, which no one had seen coming, snapped at his heels and before Potter or Hermione could stop him, Ron took off the Invisibility Cloak and disappeared into the darkness.

"Ron!" Hermione moaned, but he didn’t stop so Hermione and Potter exchanged a glance. It was impossible to run under the Cloak, so he came out and both threw themselves in pursuit, imitated by Draco and Pansy who heard their footsteps resound in front of them, and Weasley's cries against Crookshanks. They would all end up in serious trouble because of a stupid decrepit mouse, and Draco would never have forgiven Weasley’s poor ass if it had happened.


	9. The Whomping Willow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione, Draco, Harry and Pansy enter the Shrieking Shack to save Ron but inside they find an unexpected surprise.

Hermione knew that there was a tunnel under the Whomping Willow but she never imagined it could be so narrow and much less having to go through it not for fun but to save a friend from a huge black dog. They advanced as fast as possible, almost doubled over, Harry in the lead and her in tow, with Draco behind her and Pansy closing the line. Before them, Crookshanks' tail disappeared and reappeared as the tunnel continued uphill and then curved just to end in a deserted, very dusty and messy room, with the wallpaper peeling off the walls and the floor all stained; every piece of furniture was broken as if someone had bludgeoned it and the windows were closed by nailed boards, so the only place Ron could be was the dark anteroom to their right. Obviously they were in the Shrieking Shack and just as she suspected that place wasn’t haunted by ghosts but something far more tangible and dangerous had torn the legs from the chairs and large pieces of wood from the furniture. As quietly as possible, they advanced into the antechamber and began to climb the falling staircase. Everything was covered with a thick layer of dust except the floor, where a large shiny strip indicated that something, probably Ron, had been dragged upstairs. There was only one door open. As they approached it they sensed movement on the other side; a dull moan, and then an intense purring hum. The four kids exchanged one last glance and then, with his wand tightly in his hand, Harry kicked the door and opened it wide, revealing a splendid four-poster bed with dusty curtains on which

Crookshanks was laying. At their sight the purrs became more intense. On the floor there was Ron, holding his leg, bent at a strange angle. Harry and Hermione rushed over to him.

"Ron... are you okay?" Hermione asked, while Harry asked him, at the same time, where the dog was, just to find out it wasn’t a dog but Sirius Black himself, a mass of tangled hair going down to his shoulders and eyes shining in dark and sunken orbits. The waxy skin was so tight on the face’s bones to make him look like a grinning skull with yellow teeth that disarmed them with a croaking voice, pointing Ron's wand at them. His eyes were fixed on Harry.

"I was sure you would come to help your friend," he said hoarsely, as if he hadn’t used his voice in a while. “Your father would’ve done the same for me. You were brave not to go call a teacher. I am grateful to you... this will make things much simpler...”

The allusion to Harry's father rang in their ears as if Black had screamed it. The seething hatred her friend felt was evident, but fortunately, before he could do something stupid, Draco tackled him, helped by Pansy.

"Don't you dare mention him! You killed him, as you killed my mother!" Harry shouted in a voice trembling with anger but luckily the Slytherin’s grip was strong.

"I don't deny it," Black said softly. "But if you knew how it went..."

Any attempt to justify himself made Harry angrier and Hermione left Ron and approached him in turn, for fear he might break free, when the sound of muffled footsteps echoing across the floor was heard. Someone was going up and Hermione wasted no time, so she screamed to make their position and Black's presence known. Professor Lupin rushed in, his face bloodless, wand raised and ready. His eyes flickered from Ron lying on the ground to the other students, who tried to hold Harry back, to then speak in a very altered voice, a voice that vibrated with a repressed emotion. "Where is he, Sirius?"

Hermione looked quickly at Lupin. She didn't understand what he meant. Where was who? She turned back to Black, who, without expression, for a few seconds didn’t move and then, very slowly, raised his empty hand to indicate Ron. Totally confused, Hermione also looked at Ron, who looked completely dazed.

"But then..." Lupin murmured, looking at Black so intensely that he seemed to want to read his mind "why hasn't he revealed himself so far? Unless ... " Lupin's eyes widened suddenly, as if seeing something beyond Black, something no one else could see... "Unless it was him, unless you exchanged without telling me?"

Very slowly, without lifting those sunken eyes from Lupin's face, Black nodded.

"Professor," said Hermione aloud, "what ...?" But she never ended the question because what she saw quenched the voice in her throat: Lupin was lowering his wand and a moment later he was at Black’s side, grabbing his hand and helping him to get up, dropping Crookshanks on the ground, and hugging him like a brother. Hermione felt her stomach broke. She couldn’t believe it. She had saved his back, she hadn't revealed his secret to anyone, and he had always been Black’s friend, maybe even helped him enter the castle to kill Harry. A tense silence descended. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Lupin, who seemed extraordinarily calm, even though he was quite pale. Ron made a heroic effort to get up, but fell back with a groan of pain. Lupin approached him worriedly, but Ron said, breathing heavily: "Stay away from me!"

Lupin stopped abruptly and then burst into a forced laugh. He looked as crazy as Black. "If you give me the chance, I’ll explain.” and when he did, he left everyone speechless.

* * *

It took a few seconds for the absurdity of the statement to strike, then Weasley expressed aloud what Draco was thinking too: it was ridiculous, Peter Pettigrew was dead, killed by Sirius Black twelve years earlier, and there were even witnesses to confirm it, everyone knew it but Draco knew well how the truth could be manipulated easily, how much people see what they want to even if the evidence is different and even his friends should’ve, after what had happened to Buckbeak. Furthermore, something in Black’s grimace and his violent reaction told him to give the unlikely duo the benefit of the doubt. Then Hermione spoke, trying to control the trembling voice, as if to try to convince Lupin to be reasonable: "But Professor... Scabbers cannot be Pettigrew, he knows that it’s not possible...”

"Why can't it be true?" Lupin asked quietly, as if they were in the classroom and Hermione had simply encountered a difficulty in an experiment with the Grindylow.

"Because everyone would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We studied the Animagi at Professor McGonagall's course and I went to do a search in the library when I had to do the homework: the Ministry keeps the wizards and witches that can turn into animals under surveillance and keep a register of what they can be and their particular signs. I went to look for Professor McGonagall on the register, and found that there are only seven Animagi in this century, and Pettigrew wasn’t on the list."

Draco barely had time to marvel at Hermione's zeal that Lupin burst out laughing. Maybe he was crazy, besides being a werewolf: "You're right again, Hermione!" he said. “But the Ministry has

never knew that there were three unclassified Animagi that roamed Hogwarts."

"If you're going to tell him the whole story, hurry, Remus," growled Black, who continued to study all of the mouse’s moves. "I have waited twelve years and I'm not going to wait much longer."

"Okay... but you'll have to help me out, Sirius," said Lupin. “I only know how it started ...”

Lupin stopped. Behind him there was a loud squeak. The door opened alone. All seven stared at it then Lupin went to look out on the landing.

"This place is haunted!" said Weasley.

"No," said Lupin, looking puzzled at the door. “The Shrieking Shack has never been haunted: the screams and howls the villagers heard were mine."

He brushed the gray hair away from his eyes, thought for a moment and then said: "It all starts here, when I became a werewolf. None of this would’ve happened if I hadn't been bitten and if I hadn’t been so reckless.”

He looked serious and tired. Weasley was about to interrupt him, but Hermione silenced him in turn and looked back at Lupin.

“I was a child when I was bitten. My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape makes me is very recent. It makes me harmless, you know. If I take it the week before the full moon, I can keep control when I transform: I curl up in my studio, like a normal wolf, and wait for the moon to set. Before it was discovered, however, once a month I became a full-fledged monster. It seemed impossible that I was able to attend Hogwarts. The other parents wouldn't have liked that their children made contact with me but then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and found the solution. He said that if we took some precautions there was no reason why I couldn't come to school…”Lupin sighed and looked openly at Potter. “A few months ago I said that the Willow was planted the year I arrived at

Hogwarts. The truth is, it was planted because _I_ got to Hogwarts." Lupin looked around desolate, "The tunnel that leads here, it was built for me too. Once a month they secretly let me out of the castle and I came here to transform. The tree was placed at the entrance of the tunnel to prevent anyone from crossing me when I was dangerous."

Draco didn’t understand where that story was going but he listened to him anyway. The only noise, besides Lupin's voice, was the mouse’s frightened squeak.

“My transformations were terrible. It's a lot painful to turn into a werewolf and since I had no humans around to bite I would bite and scratch myself. Villagers heard the noise and screams and believed that they were particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumors, even now that the house is silent for years, the inhabitants haven’t dared to approach. But transformations aside, I was happier than I had ever been.

For the first time I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and of course your father, Harry. James Potter. Now, my three friends couldn't help noticing that once a month I disappeared. I made up all kinds of stories. I told them that my mother was sick and I had to go home to her. I was afraid that they would abandon me once I found out who I was. But of course they discovered the truth, like you, Hermione. And they didn't abandon me at all. In fact, they did something for me that didn't only made my transformations bearable, but it changed them in the most moments beautiful in my life. They became Animagi.”

"My father too?" Potter asked, amazed. Draco glanced at him. Obviously James Potter, the Gryffindor knight in shining armor had done something heroic for his friend.

“It took him almost three years to figure out how to. Your father and Sirius were the brightest students in the school and luckily, because the transformation into Animagus can end very badly, that’s why the Ministry keeps those who try to do it under close surveillance. Peter needed all the help James and Sirius could give him. In the end, during the fifth year, they did it. They were able to transform each into different animals, as they please.”

"But how did they help you?" Hermione asked puzzled while Draco understood that: werewolves don’t attack animals, so every month they sneaked out of the castle under Potter's Invisibility Cloak, but he didn't say it and let Lupin go on with his story while he thought he would do the same for Hermione. Lupin's face had hardened, little self-esteem in her voice.

“I fought with myself all this year, wondering if I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't. Why? Because I was too coward. It would’ve meant admitting that I had betrayed his trust when I was here at school, admitting that I had involved other people, and Dumbledore's trust meant everything to me. He got me into Hogwarts as a boy, and gave me a job when I’ve never been able to find one because of who I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius tried to enter school using dark arts learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it, so, someway, Snape has always been right about me."

"Snape?" Black said hoarsely, looking away from Scabbers for the first time and staring at Lupin. "What's Snape got to do with it?" he asked with such perplexity that Draco also wondered if there wasn’t something really wrong with Snape.

"He's here, Sirius," said Lupin gravely. "He teaches here too." and then came back to look at his students to tell them that Snape was at school with them and he fought a lot to not entrust him with the Defense Against the Dark Arts chair, which didn’t surprise anyone as it was known that Snape wanted it more than anything else in the world, mainly due to a tacky joke made by Black.

"So that's why she doesn't like Snape," Draco said slowly, "Why did you think she was complicit in the joke?"

"That's right," said a cold voice behind Lupin. Severus Snape was pulling off his invisibility cloak, his wand

pointed at Lupin. Hermione screamed. Black jumped up. Potter winced as if he had been hit by a strong electric shock.

"I found it at the Willow’s roots," Snape said throwing the Cloak to the side, careful to keep his wand pointed straight at Lupin. “Very useful, Potter, thank you.”

Snape was a little panting, but his expression overflowed with repressed triumph. "Maybe you're wondering how I knew you were here?" he said, his eyes sparkling. "I've just been to your study, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I brought you a full mug and there was a certain map on your desk. A glance was enough to know everything I wanted. I saw you disappear in this passage.”

"Severus ..." Lupin began, but Snape didn’t let him continue.

“I said and told the Headmaster that you were helping your old friend to enter the castle and here's the proof. Neither I would’ve dreamed that you would’ve had the courage to use this old shack as a hiding place.”

"Severus, you're making a mistake," said Lupin urgently. "You don’t have heard the whole story. I can explain: Sirius isn’t here to kill Harry ."

"Two more criminals ready for Azkaban tonight," Snape said with feverish eyes. "I'm curious to see how Dumbledore will take it. He was convinced you were harmless, you know, a tamed werewolf ."

"This is stupid," said Lupin softly. “It’s worthwhile to lock up an innocent man in Azkaban for a fight between boys?"

Thin serpentine ropes came out of the tip of Snape's wand but Draco was quick enough to disarm him before they could reach Lupin. The others were paralyzed, not knowing what to do, but Draco knew Snape and his friends' temperament well enough to know that if he stayed armed in a short time something terrible would happen. Hermione, just as Draco had imagined, took an uncertain step towards Snape and said, in a broken voice, "Professor, don't you think you should listen to what they have to say?"

"Miss Granger, you're already practically suspended!" he snapped. You’re outside the confines of the school, in the company of a man convicted of murder and a werewolf. For once in your life, close your mouth."

"But if there had been a mistake..." ventured Pansy, who hadn't spoken all the time.

"SHUT UP, STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, suddenly losing control. "DON’T TALK ABOUT THINGS YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!"

He was scary, with that crazy light in his eyes, as if he had lost his reason, almost as Lucius Malfoy himself, which was the thing that terrified Draco most after the idea of losing Hermione. Fear froze him: he could have hit him or his friends, physically assaulting them as his father did when he lost control. Black also seemed frightened but Lupin, Potter and Hermione acted in unison, throwing three spells that lifted him from the ground and made him go crashing into the wall, where he slipped to the ground with a trickle of blood dripping through his greasy hair. He was passed out.

"The time has come to give you some proof," said Black and then ordered to Weasley, who had no intention to oblige and forced Lupin to snatch it from his hands, to give him the mouse. A flash of blue and white light shot from Lupin and Weasley's wands, which was still in Black's possession; for a moment the mouse was paralyzed midair, a small black silhouette that writhed madly. Weasley screamed when it fell to the ground and a head rose, followed by arms and legs, and a moment later, in the point Scabbers had fallen, a man trying to make himself small appeared, wringing his hands. Crookshanks hissed on the bed with fur standing on his back. He was very short, slightly taller than Pansy and Hermione with thin colorless, untidy hair that left a bald patch in the middle of his head and had the wrinkled appearance of a fat man who had lost a lot of weight in no time. His skin looked dirty and sickly, like the hair of the mouse it had been. He looked around, breathing quickly and irregularly. Draco saw his eyes shoot towards the door and return to all of them, just like a beast, as if he had lost part of his humanity after so long in the form of an animal.

"Well, hi, Peter," said Lupin and with three words he wiped out several great certainties in Draco's life.


	10. The Transformation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bizarre group is ready to turn Pettigrew to the authorities but the full moon will complicate their plans

Hermione covered her face with her hands and sank it into Draco's chest. She didn't want to see a man die, even if he was a slimy traitor like Pettigrew, but Harry, the one who should’ve most desired his death, stopped Lupin and Black just in time not much to save his life as to save his father’s best friends the burden of becoming murderers. Although he hadn't wanted to admit it his private lessons with Lupin had made him even braver, and he dismissed Pettigrew when the little man tried to approach him with labored breath and reeling hands, like someone who is about to drown who sees a buoy; Hermione hoped that he was drowning in his own sense of guilt, even if she wasn't sure that those horrible creature could experience such complex emotions any more or, judging by the terrible acts he had committed, had ever had.

"You're the only one with the right to decide, Harry," said Black. "But think about what he did."

"He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. “If there is someone who deserves to, it's him."

"Very well," said Lupin. "Move over, Harry."

Harry hesitated.

"I want to tie him up," said Lupin. "That's all, I swear."

Hermione looked at the scene as if she wasn't really there and was witnessing it through a glass, Draco's arm still tightly wrapped around her shoulders in a protective way. When the professor had finished he devoted himself to Ron's leg and Pansy helped him to get up while the boy tried to move the weight carefully on the leg with an expression of stoic resignation.

"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked in a thin voice, looking at the teacher lying on the ground. Lupin decreed that he had no serious injuries but it would’ve been better to revive him only once they had managed to return to the castle. So they started to walk, Snape standing upright thanks to a spell Lupin casted, his head dangling like that of a grotesque puppet, suspended a few inches from the ground, his feet hanging limp and Black and Draco handcuffed to a tied and gagged Pettigrew, Crookshanks to guide them with a straight bushy tail.

"Do you know what that means?" Black asked Harry suddenly, while they proceeded slowly along the tunnel, breaking the silence. "Hand Pettigrew to the authorities?"

Hermione couldn't stop listening even though she knew it was a private conversation that was simply taking place in a confined space. Once Black's innocence was recognized he would be free and Harry, who was his godson, could’ve lived with him as he was the guardian his parents had chosen at his birth. The Dursleys, judging by how Harry described them, expected nothing more than to be able to get rid of him and would’ve been immensely happy to hear the news and perhaps his aunt would’ve finally found some peace knowing that her sister's real killer was been captured. Harry waited, a silence full of expectations that Hermione knew well and she nearly laughed when Black assumed that he might have preferred to stay with his uncles and he would’ve brought him no grudge if that was the case. Harry seemed to have lost the ability to speak and it was Hermione who answered in his place.

Black turned to look at Harry; Snape's head crawled against the ceiling but he didn't seem to mind.

"Do you really want it?" he asked, and Harry nodded, trying to hold back tears of joy. Even Hermione could be said she was moved by that scene but the thing that struck most was Draco’s sad look, who probably had never been loved so unconditionally by someone: Sirius Black had known his godson for less than an hour and would've done anything for him, even don't kill the one who killed his best friend and let the blame fall on him. Hermione, although she knew how obsessed the Malfoys were with family, doubted that anyone would ever do the same for Draco. When Black's tormented face broke into the first smile Hermione had seen so far, whose difference with the sneers he had sported upstairs was surprising, as if a person ten years younger was shining through the sunken mask, Draco turned, returning to study Pettigrew with a restless look. Nobody talked anymore until the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks jumped out for first; evidently he had pressed his paw on the trunk node, because Lupin, Pettigrew and Draco climbed out without a hissing sound of angry branches. Black followed them quickly, then led Snape through the hole and finally Harry, Hermione, Pansy and Ron also came out. The meadows were now plunged into darkness. The only light came from the distant windows of the castle. They started going up the hill silently, while each one weighed what had just happened and the consequences that their actions would have. Pettigrew kept panting and occasionally whimpering, and Hermione, whose head was all buzzing, didn’t miss the fact that Draco's free hand ran more and more often to the wand he held in his pocket. Lupin seemed restless too and threatened Pettigrew again while the lights of the castle grew bigger and bigger. Snape continued to float bizarrely in front of Black, his chin jumping on his chest. And then a cloud passed. Suddenly soft shadows stretched across the ground and the group was bathed in moonlight. Snape bumped into Lupin, Pettigrew and Draco who had stopped suddenly. Black remained motionless, then very slowly extended an arm to stop Harry and Hermione. Lupin's shape stiffened, then his arms and legs began to tremble. He hadn’t taken the potion that evening and soon they would’ve had to deal with a real werewolf.

"Run," Black whispered. "Now!"

But Hermione couldn't do it, not with Draco still chained to Pettigrew. Harry also seemed more concerned about the possibility of losing his parents' killer than about his own safety and tried to rush forward but Black held him back. Draco, for his part, had drawn his wand and kept the prisoner under close surveillance, his expression tense but that didn’t leave Hermione doubting that he would’ve been able to harm him if he wanted to. It was evident that he was trying to ignore Lupin's head getting longer and the hair sticking out visibly on his face and hands, which quickly turned into clawed paws. None of them had ever witnessed the transformation of a werewolf, although everyone knew how it happened, thanks to Snape's lesson, but Black was accustomed and without saying a word he had turned back into the black bear-like dog. Hermione looked for Pansy and Ron. The girl had managed to support him enough to allow him to move away, backing away to Hagrid's hut, which still looked like a distant dot in the dark. Maybe they were the safest if the werewolf hadn't noticed them. A howl and a thundering snarl rang; Hermione turned and saw the werewolf running away in the forest, followed by Black. The three kids exchanged a knowing look: they were left alone with a Voldemort spy, the only one who could help them an unconscious professor who was still floating midair.

"We'd better take them to the castle and warn someone," Draco said, brushing his hair from his eyes. "Come Hermione, help me with this one. You, Potter, take care of Snape.”

A few steps and from an invisible point they heard a whine, a moan from a suffering dog.

"Sirius," Harry whispered, staring into the darkness. After a moment of uncertainty he ran off.

"Petrify him." Hermione ordered to Draco before following her friend. For some strange reasons, she feared more for Harry's safety than for her best friend, even though she was no longer very sure that it made sense to call him that. If everything had gone well and they had passed that night unscathed, they would've had a lot to talk about and nearly as many things to clarify, but at the moment, it didn't seem so important, not as much as reaching the lawn near the lake shore.


End file.
